Bakersfield Heart Hospital Has Half the LOS & 30 Day Readmission Rate of the Second Closest Hospital in Kern County, California for Hip & Knee Replacement Surgeries

Dexur’s analysis of Medicare claims data for hospitals serving Kern County residents showed that Bakersfield Heart Hospital had half the length of stay (LOS) & readmission rate of the second ranked hospital, San Joaquin Community Hospital. Dexur’s analytic criteria included hospitals that had greater than 5% market share across all inpatient discharges in Kern County. These hospitals were Bakersfield Heart Hospital (BHH), San Joaquin Community Hospital, Bakersfield Memorial Hospital & Mercy Hospital.

The analysis studied DRG 470 (Major joint replacement or reattachment of lower extremity without MCC) for LOS & 30 day readmission rates for these four hospitals. BHH was the top ranked Hospital in Kern County for LOS with only 1.1 days in Hospital. The hospital with the next-shortest LOS was San Joaquin Community Hospital, which at 2.2 days in hospital had nearly twice the average LOS. BHH also had the lowest all cause 30 day readmission rate at 6.2%. The next lowest hospital, San Joaquin Community Hospital, had more than double that rate, at 13.5%.

Interestingly, Dr. Fadi Saied is the top ranked surgeon for DRG 470 surgeries at both BHH and at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. However, the Average LOS metrics for Dr. Saied are markedly different at BHH compared to Bakersfield Memorial hospital for the same DRG. This seems to suggest BHH has hospital specific institutional advantages that surgeons are able to leverage. BHH’s performance in average LOS and readmission rates is well rewarded in hospital economics: its average revenue per day for Medicare patients is markedly higher than comparable Kern county hospitals.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Pitt

James Pitt is a science writer with experience in medical devices and textbook publishing. His hobbies include reading, flintknapping, and squinting at RStudio. He received a bachelor's in Human Evolutionary Biology from Harvard.